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A home exercise plan (HEP) gives your patient a written, illustrated set of exercises to do between visits. In StrataEMR, you build the plan as its own clinical document, starting from a ready-made plan for the body region you’re treating. You adjust it in a few clicks, then share it before the patient leaves or after the visit. Many therapists teach the exercises in the room first, then hand over the plan. This guide covers both the building and the handoff.

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Before You Begin

  • You need Clinical Staff permissions or above to create a home exercise plan.
  • The patient needs an open case.
  • Keep in mind that a home exercise plan is a separate document from your daily note or evaluation. Many therapists keep the daily note open in one browser tab and build the plan in another.

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Start a Home Exercise Plan

  1. Navigate to Clinical Documents within a case: Patient Menu Bar > Documents > Clinical Documents.
  2. Choose how to create the document. If the patient already has a plan for this region, choose Inherit Previous Documentation.
  3. From the template dropdown, select the Home Exercise Program family.
  4. Select a starting plan. Starting plans are organized by body region or diagnosis, such as hip and knee, hand and wrist, lumbar, or cervical.
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Tip: Bringing a previous plan forward carries over the exercises, sets, reps, and instructions. When a patient progresses, open a new plan and change only what’s different. For example, move from three sets to four.

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Customize the Exercises

The starting plan opens with the exercises most therapists use for that region, along with photos. Adjust it to fit this patient.
  1. Enter the sets, reps, and any specific instructions for each exercise. For example, “Use the green band.”
  2. Select the minus icon to remove an exercise you don’t want.
  3. Use the up and down arrows to put the exercises in the order you want the patient to follow.
  4. To add exercises, select the document heading. Pick an exercise family, select the exercises you want, and select Use Selections. You aren’t limited to the region you started with. You can pull an ankle exercise into a hip and knee plan.
Warning: Fields highlighted in blue still hold placeholder text. If you save without filling them in, your patient sees the placeholder, such as “(additional instructions)” on their plan. Fill in the field or remove the exercise.

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Add an Exercise That Isn’t in the List

Use the custom exercise when you need an exercise StrataEMR doesn’t include.
  1. Select the document heading and open the Exercise - Custom family.
  2. Select the Custom Exercise and then click Use Selections to add the blank custom exercise to the plan.
  3. Enter the exercise name and your instructions.
  4. Select Choose Patient Image. Pick an image from your library, or select Choose File, find the photo on your computer, and select Upload.
  5. Enter the sets, reps, and any additional instructions.
A custom exercise added this way belongs to this patient’s plan. To reuse it with other patients, see Save Exercises and Plans for Reuse.

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Save the Plan

Mark the plan complete and save it. The saved plan appears in the patient’s Clinical Documents list with their other documents.

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Share the Plan with Your Patient

You can give the patient a PDF to print, email the plan, or fax it. StrataEMR doesn’t send a home exercise plan through the patient portal. To send the plan together with another document, such as the daily note, select the checkbox next to each document before you download, email, or fax.
  1. On the Clinical Documents page, select the checkbox next to the plan.
  2. Download the plan as a PDF.
  3. Open the PDF and print it.
Note: You can’t print directly from the document screen. StrataEMR shows a message that clinical documents aren’t meant to be printed, which protects patient information from a quick screen capture. Download the PDF first, then print the PDF.

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Email the Plan

  1. On the Clinical Documents page, select the checkbox next to the plan.
  2. Select Email Checked Items.
  3. Review the email address. StrataEMR uses the address on the patient’s case. To send the plan to someone else, such as a family member who helps with the exercises, enter a different address.
  4. Set a password.
  5. Enter your message and send the email.
Warning: StrataEMR sends clinical documents as password-protected emails to protect patient information. Choose a password you can share with the patient by phone or in person. Don’t put the password in the email.

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Fax the Plan

If the patient or their provider uses a fax machine, select the plan on the faxing screen and send it the way you send any other document. See Fax Management.

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Save Exercises and Plans for Reuse

If you give the same exercises often, build them once so you don’t rebuild them for every patient. Changes you make here apply to everyone at your practice who uses the template.
Note: Changing templates and saving new exercises requires Therapy Director permissions or above. If you don’t have access, ask someone at your practice who does.

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Change a Starting Plan

  1. Navigate to Template Library: Menu Bar > Settings > Template Library.
  2. Open the Home Exercise Program family.
  3. Select the pencil icon next to the plan you want to change.
  4. Remove, reorder, or add exercises the same way you do for a patient.
  5. Save the document.
Every new plan you create from this template starts with your changes. You can still adjust it for each patient.
Tip: To build a plan for a specific protocol, such as the first 30 days after a total knee replacement, give the template a new name before you save. The original starting plan stays as it was, and your new plan appears in the dropdown for your whole team.

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Save a Custom Exercise to Your Exercise List

  1. Navigate to Fragments Library: Menu Bar > Settings > Fragments Library.
  2. Open the Exercise - Custom fragment.
  3. Enter the exercise name and instructions, and choose an image.
  4. Change the name to the new exercise name, then save.
The exercise now appears in the exercise list with the others. The blank Exercise - Custom fragment stays available for the next exercise you create.
Warning: Rename the exercise before you save. If you save without a new name, you overwrite the blank custom exercise. Contact StrataPT Support if this happens and we’ll restore it.
Tip: Photograph your most-used exercises in one session and upload them to the Image Library first. Each photo is then ready to pick when you build the exercise. Template screens don’t display exercise photos. They appear when you open the plan from a patient’s case.